'99 Lincoln Continental Refurbishment

[Svets96]

Well, I finally get to start my thread about the overall condition of my '99 Continental. I will show you everything I have done to my car so far. There still is a ton of things to make perfect as the perfectionist that I am Lol.
This car has 79,000 miles on it, barely seen snow over the years. (probably 11 times if that) It has been in my family since April of '01. I would like to share with you all the detail and resto that it will receive. I will give you an in depth review with pictures as to what was done to the car over time. It is currently in storage, I parked it first week of Nov. 2014 and by the looks of the snow and below 0 frigid temps this car probably will not come out until May.

The parts that I have replaced I will provide part #s for reference. Also I will let you know where to find parts for this model that are obsolete. Majority of factory Ford parts I had used Tasca Ford/Lincoln in Rhode Island. They sell parts for around 10% over cost. Lincoln Land Inc. in Clearwater, Florida has very good parts at decent prices. I have a build sheet from Helms for this car it had cost $48.00. The Mark VIII section has a write up of this company. I will post it in my thread for those considering getting one for their car.

Work Performed as of July 2014
-Tune up all 8 plugs changed, 1 coil was replaced. Drained and flushed fuel tank and lines. (bad watered down gas was the cause for this procedure) Car only receives Shell 94 premium like it should.
-STP air filter #SA8039
-4 new Firestone Precision Sport Touring tires
-Trans fluid and filter changed, Mercon V
-Brake fluid flush
-New Gates Micro-V serpentine belt #K060755
-New belt tensioner Dayco brand #305309
-New idler pulley Dayco brand #231107
-New windshield washer fluid level sensor Motorcraft #17B649
-New hood struts (special order from Autozone) AVM mighty lift #D95904
-New PCV #PCV1201 DL
-New 3rd brake light bulbs Sylvania #912 LL
-New Grille Emblem #F80Z8213AA (Pictures)
-New power steering reservoir cap #F23Z3A006A (Pictures)
-New lower radiator air deflector #F50Y8327A (Pictures)
-New cabin air filter #F80Z19N619AB (Pictures)

Here is the car:

Sorry for the big photos! Still learning

 

[Svets96]

I had some minor body work completed. This was done on Aug. of 2013. Everyone knows the rubber inserts on the inner quarters, if you do not get rid of them rust starts. Mine started to but I wish I would have known about this sooner, mine had been fiber glassed wanted new metal in but its tricky for body shops to get it right. This car was and will be a summer only car. Here is what mine looked like before and after body work.

The only other spot of rust on this car is the rear bumper impact bar (rebar) I just found a clean one on Ebay for $50, I'll have next week. I'm going to spray rust preventative paint on it so that it looks brand new, along with the energy absorber bars. I'll have a detailed write up of this too, taking bumper off and impact bar off along with pictures. Stay Tuned for this!

 

[eots44]

I always liked this generation Continental, IMO these are much better looking then the Town Cars of the time, and even better then the late one that lasted until 2011. The Back end of the last two Gen Town Cars always was a turn off for me. And there's nothing wrong with your pictures, big pictures are good.

 

[Svets96]

Here is what I have used for cleaning products:

-Meguiars Deep Crystal car wash
-Meguiars Clay Bar
-Meguiars Yellow #7 (took off with orbital polisher)
-Meguiars Ultimate Cleaner Wax (took off with orbital polisher)
-Meguiars Leather Cleaner/Conditioner used Mr. Clean Magic eraser for heavy soiled areas. Be careful in attempting this because it will wear leather out.
-Degreased engine took off front cowling piece cleaned waxed everything including polishing screws which had minor corrosion.
-Picture of undercarriage, washed and wiped down whole surface.

Front seats cleaned conditioned: Seats will be re-padded/re-skinned, along with new headliner.

Rear seats cleaned conditioned:

Polished and detailed rocker panels:

 

[Svets96]

Engine cleaned and detailed I had used Pledge on all the vinyl and plastic:

Power steering cap was replaced with a new one:

Undercarriage cleaned and detailed:

Here is what a 80,000 mile cabin air filter looks like! I almost fainted when I pulled it out! Dust bunnies galore!

Here is end result after my 9 hour detailing spree:

 

[Svets96]

I always liked this generation Continental, IMO these are much better looking then the Town Cars of the time, and even better then the late one that lasted until 2011. The Back end of the last two Gen Town Cars always was a turn off for me. And there's nothing wrong with your pictures, big pictures are good.

I agree with you, this is my favorite generation too. Thank you for your comments! Stay tuned for more over the top obsessive cleaning!

 

[Svets96]

Here is a photo of the new parts I ordered a couple months ago. They have been since installed on the car. I will post pics when I get a chance.

New air deflector, cabin air filter, Lincoln emblem, power steering cap.

I bought a Cover Craft custom fit car cover when its sits for the winter. Those of you who are interested in this cover it is part #C15901TT Pics both front and rear of vehicle.

This is it for now, until I get my rear bumper steel support. It should be here next week. I'll post pics of that and the new parts I installed, including a binder I have on the car of all the maintenance records and receipts, with the helms build sheet.

Please subscribe if you would like. I really like LVC a lot! Wish there was a north eastern part of Ohio into north western Pa LVC get together I searched the different locations but none near me. Maybe we all can figure something out.

 

[eots44]

I did the same complete top to bottom detail on my 04 CTS last year. Has about 200,000 miles, so the interior wasn't in good shape. I spent about 8 hours alone on the interior, and got it to near new condition again! below are just a couple of pics. I'm looking at getting an 04-05 Deville, and plan on doing the same to that when I finally settle on one. Keep up the good work, your Conti's looking great!

 

[MooJohn]

I'm curious about the power steering cap. I noticed mine will have fluid on the outside of the reservoir and I know it wasn't over-filled. Is it just a leaky cap? That would be an awesome quick fix!

When you own one of these cars in clean, fully functioning condition it makes you wonder how so many are sold for $2-3k as if they were disposable.

 

[Svets96]

I did the same complete top to bottom detail on my 04 CTS last year. Has about 200,000 miles, so the interior wasn't in good shape. I spent about 8 hours alone on the interior, and got it to near new condition again! below are just a couple of pics. I'm looking at getting an 04-05 Deville, and plan on doing the same to that when I finally settle on one. Keep up the good work, your Conti's looking great!
View attachment 828471705
View attachment 828471706

Thank you very much!! Wow your interior looks amazing for 200k!! I remember reading one of your threads on the Deville that you want to purchase. When you changed your sig pic to the silver Deville I was thinking you found the one that was perfect. You'll find the one you want it always takes time to make a vehicle purchase. They are out there, I always check the classic car magazine you 'd be surprised as to what years you can find on the vehicle you want.

 

[eots44]

Thank you very much!! Wow your interior looks amazing for 200k!! I remember reading one of your threads on the Deville that you want to purchase. When you changed your sig pic to the silver Deville I was thinking you found the one that was perfect. You'll find the one you want it always takes time to make a vehicle purchase. They are out there, I always check the classic car magazine you 'd be surprised as to what years you can find on the vehicle you want.

Thanks! Yeah you can say that again! It's not anything like buying a new car where you have 20 other cars to choose from. I see good ones, bad ones, over priced ones, and everything in between. Right now I'm sitting on an 05 I found, clean car, reasonable price, and what I really like is it comes with a 12 month warranty. I'm not looking too seriously anymore because a good friend of mine is going to be selling her 04 DHS soon and I told her to call me when she's ready to get a new car, and if I hadn't found anything yet I'd buy it from her. The 2000-2005 Deville's have always been my favorite cars since they came out. I've wanted to own one since 05 when I had to leave my CTS over night at the dealership and got an 03 Deville as a loaner car, it was love at first drive! They have the perfect combination of soft big Cadillacness, yet they are performance monsters. I'm sure you feel the same way about your car, the Deville and Continental have very similar specs. I have wanted to own one since that point, but over the years never really got around to it, fell in love with my CTS. Now seeing as I can get a decent one for around $5,000 I figured why not. How long have you had your Continental for?

 

[Svets96]

I'm curious about the power steering cap. I noticed mine will have fluid on the outside of the reservoir and I know it wasn't over-filled. Is it just a leaky cap? That would be an awesome quick fix!

When you own one of these cars in clean, fully functioning condition it makes you wonder how so many are sold for $2-3k as if they were disposable.

It very well could be the cap, hopefully the power steering hoses and or fittings are still dry and not wet around the edges. I would look at that as a possibility. I'll try to find out more info on the issue you have. Might have been a certain time frame tsb at some point.

I agree about what your saying about the Conti's being around the $2-3k spot. Ugh.... Although for a clean one I think they should be in around 10k-13k. IMO I think these cars will be brining good $$ down the road. The Mark VII are bringing in very good money.

 

[Svets96]

Thanks! Yeah you can say that again! It's not anything like buying a new car where you have 20 other cars to choose from. I see good ones, bad ones, over priced ones, and everything in between. Right now I'm sitting on an 05 I found, clean car, reasonable price, and what I really like is it comes with a 12 month warranty. I'm not looking too seriously anymore because a good friend of mine is going to be selling her 04 DHS soon and I told her to call me when she's ready to get a new car, and if I hadn't found anything yet I'd buy it from her. The 2000-2005 Deville's have always been my favorite cars since they came out. I've wanted to own one since 05 when I had to leave my CTS over night at the dealership and got an 03 Deville as a loaner car, it was love at first drive! They have the perfect combination of soft big Cadillacness, yet they are performance monsters. I'm sure you feel the same way about your car, the Deville and Continental have very similar specs. I have wanted to own one since that point, but over the years never really got around to it, fell in love with my CTS. Now seeing as I can get a decent one for around $5,000 I figured why not. How long have you had your Continental for?

That's cool that you know someone that has the car that you always wanted. That's key. Knowing it was taken very good care of. Hope the deal pulls through for you. You sound like me, wanting a car you always wanted. That's the way I feel about the Continental model. I had this car since '12. It has been in the family since April of '01 it was a Florida (Lincoln)red carpet lease turn in with 21k. I vacuumed a little sand out of the trunk, when my Dad bought it. This was his summer car for golfing and such. Its funny because he also bought a '97 Cadillac Eldorado, green, green top, tan leather at the same time that he drove the Lincoln. There is kind of a story how my Conti is mine now, my grandma had a '94 Town Car Signature Series black with cloth interior. Well one day she was sitting at a red light, a car blew right through the red light, hit my grandmas TC totaling it! You should see the pictures, I still have, I'll try to post if I can scan them. She came out ok thank God. So my Dad ended up giving her his Continental. I always detailed this car. She had passed summer of '14 so in 2012 she gave this car to me. It has a lot of sentimental value to me and good memories and good looks that it gets. I started this thread trying to inspire all that who do have this model, to restore and keep them going and looking good. Imo I think they will bring money down the road like anything else.

**On a side note, there is a youtube channel, and forum called E39Source it is for BMW's. This kid that started it is a detail freak like me. So in a sense I am trying to get something going in regards to having a channel how to vids (maybe. I don't have a gopro) so I figured for right now I would show step by step the process on how I am restoring my Lincoln. Hopefully others will follow. I know the Mark VIII section is filled with this type of content and that is great! There are threads in the Cadillac section too! I don't know a good title for the channel? Something like Lincoln Vehicle Resources or something....Don't know maybe someone will chime in. lol

 

[eots44]

That's cool that you know someone that has the car that you always wanted. That's key. Knowing it was taken very good care of. Hope the deal pulls through for you. You sound like me, wanting a car you always wanted. That's the way I feel about the Continental model. I had this car since '12. It has been in the family since April of '01 it was a Florida (Lincoln)red carpet lease turn in with 21k. I vacuumed a little sand out of the trunk, when my Dad bought it. This was his summer car for golfing and such. Its funny because he also bought a '97 Cadillac Eldorado, green, green top, tan leather at the same time that he drove the Lincoln. There is kind of a story how my Conti is mine now, my grandma had a '94 Town Car Signature Series black with cloth interior. Well one day she was sitting at a red light, a car blew right through the red light, hit my grandmas TC totaling it! You should see the pictures, I still have, I'll try to post if I can scan them. She came out ok thank God. So my Dad ended up giving her his Continental. I always detailed this car. She had passed summer of '14 so in 2012 she gave this car to me. It has a lot of sentimental value to me and good memories and good looks that it gets. I started this thread trying to inspire all that who do have this model, to restore and keep them going and looking good. Imo I think they will bring money down the road like anything else.

**On a side note, there is a youtube channel, and forum called E39Source it is for BMW's. This kid that started it is a detail freak like me. So in a sense I am trying to get something going in regards to having a channel how to vids (maybe. I don't have a gopro) so I figured for right now I would show step by step the process on how I am restoring my Lincoln. Hopefully others will follow. I know the Mark VIII section is filled with this type of content and that is great! There are threads in the Cadillac section too! I don't know a good title for the channel? Something like Lincoln Vehicle Resources or something....Don't know maybe someone will chime in. lol

I bought my CTS new, I have very fun and fond memories of those times. Ironically a couple of my friends have Devilles, that's not why I'm friends with them though, just a coincidence. One was just in a really bad accident in hers in November, she was stopped waiting to turn left into a strip mall, there was no traffic behind her when she stopped, but then one of those big cement trucks came up behind her at 40 mph and hit her, and she was pushed into oncoming traffic in the other lane and was hit from the front as well, and she walked away from the accident. The investigation had shown the driver of the cement truck didn't even attempt to stop, and the car saved her life. That's one thing that makes Cadillacs and Lincolns great, they're built rock solid and are some of the safest cars in the world. I'll look at that guy on youtube. I actually think I made an interior detail thread, I pretty sure I did, but I don't remember Lol.

 

[Svets96]

I bought my CTS new, I have very fun and fond memories of those times. Ironically a couple of my friends have Devilles, that's not why I'm friends with them though, just a coincidence. One was just in a really bad accident in hers in November, she was stopped waiting to turn left into a strip mall, there was no traffic behind her when she stopped, but then one of those big cement trucks came up behind her at 40 mph and hit her, and she was pushed into oncoming traffic in the other lane and was hit from the front as well, and she walked away from the accident. The investigation had shown the driver of the cement truck didn't even attempt to stop, and the car saved her life. That's one thing that makes Cadillacs and Lincolns great, they're built rock solid and are some of the safest cars in the world. I'll look at that guy on youtube. I actually think I made an interior detail thread, I pretty sure I did, but I don't remember Lol.

Glad to hear your friend came out of the accident without a scratch. Driving is very bad anymore you have to watch out more to the person behind you then in front of you! Seems like. X2 on both manufacturers building safe and reliable autos. When you do look up E39source you'll laugh pretty good, comments are hilarious on that channel. I'll do a search for your interior detail thread.

 

[dfoy50]

looks very nice . its in much better shape than mine but mine has almost twice the milage soo . i purchased mine in mid october looks nnnnnnice

 

[Svets96]

looks very nice . its in much better shape than mine but mine has almost twice the milage soo . i purchased mine in mid october looks nnnnnnice

Thank you very much! PM'ed you about the pictures/size.

 

[dfoy50]

thanks again

Thank you very much! PM'ed you about the pictures/size.

i'll try and get some pics tomarrow / this morning , i did sign up for bucket see prvt.

 

[Svets96]

Here is the binder with all my files on the car. It has all the receipts from work being done over the years including the build sheet.

Front pages:

Back pages:

This binder keeps filling up with new part orders. I love it

 

[Svets96]

Here is the new lower radiator air deflector installed:

For those of you who are in need of one this is a special order part from the factory.

 

[Svets96]

I got my new rear bumper support this afternoon. I was glad to see the FedEx truck pull up. This part was off a '01 Conti parts car. Never been wrecked, no rust, brand new condition. I washed it with car wash and wiped it down. My plan is to spray paint this part using Rustoleum black paint for protection. I will show pictures as this happens, along with removing the rear bumper and sanding down any rust on the energy absorbers then coating POR 15. Then install.

Front View:

Back View:

I can't wait to install this!

 

[MooJohn]

That front air dam piece isn't under any Continental I've ever seen. My car has never been in an accident and I'm certain the old couple that owned it previously didn't rip it off.

 

[Svets96]

That front air dam piece isn't under any Continental I've ever seen. My car has never been in an accident and I'm certain the old couple that owned it previously didn't rip it off.

hmmm....this has been on my car since we got it back in '01. I'm thinking if you ever got your coolant changed, the first step is to take this deflector off. Maybe someone forgot to put it back on maybe?

Oh, and I did check on your power steering cap concern. I couldn't find any tsb's or anything and searched all over the internet. Wouldn't hurt to get a new cap, simple install, and pretty cheap. Only possibility I can think of is maybe a hose is leaking or loose?

 

[MooJohn]

I may pick one up just to have it. It will do 2 things: increase the airflow through the radiator by creating more negative pressure behind it, and perhaps help highway MPG by reducing the amount of air going under the car.

I asked about the cap only because you replaced yours. That's an odd service item so I thought maybe yours had been leaking too.

 

[bradyelich]

Nice work.
my 1997 has the air dam.
Your motor does not have the plastic cover.